Sometimes you see a news item or a blog post in a stream and you wonder if it’s something that has been rehashed from many moons ago. That was my first thought when I saw the story I’m about to blog about, however after delving further it looks like the real deal.
BCM Momentum, the blog for Baylor College Of Medicine informs us : Online program aims to aid in weight loss for women with physical limitations. The program addresses a very serious issue, as Margaret A.Nosek PHD explains :
If you really want to see something rarer than a vegetarian at a rib cook-off, try looking for a woman in a wheelchair at Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers, or 24 Hour Fitness. Why are we such rare birds in these environments?
The answer is simple – these programs don’t really understand what it’s like to try to lose weight when exercising is simply not an option.
Therefore there’s a need for women with physical limitations to share ideas on how to lose weight and of course a good way of doing this is to meetup in small groups to discuss methods that may work. However there are times when physical limitations are problematic for people who may benefit from meeting up in a central physical location, so what better way to address this than via a virtual world :
We are now testing this program with small groups of women who have mobility limitations, but instead of making them deal with all the hassles of coming to one location, we hold our meetings in the virtual online world of Second Life.
Whereas this program is aimed at women in the Houston area, it still shows the power and benefits that a virtual world can bring.